Difficult to Fight Against Anger
by Alex Stockwell
Summary: This is a twoparter based on Marvel Comics' 'What If' series. It's an alternate ending to season six, where Warren doesn't shoot Buffy and kill Tara. Note: There's some dialogue from 'Dirty Work' I thought would work with Jonathan and Andrew.
1. Chapter 1

A BtVS fanfic by Alex Stockwell

This story begins at the end of "Seeing Red", following Spike's departure. For all intents and purposes, his part of the story is exactly the same.

* * *

The morning after the fight, the Scoobies are deeply engaged in finding out where Warren escaped to. Willow rubs her temples.

"This is ridiculous. We've been at this all night. He's probably halfway to Los Angeles by now."

"Wow," Xander muses. "Imagine what would happen if Angel's crew got a hold of him." Everyone laughs at this.

"Cordy'd probably talk him to death." Buffy jokes, then pushes herself away from the table, gets up, and stretches. "Well, maybe we should take a break. Let's get some breakfast, than when we come back we'll feel refreshed."

"Sounds good." Xander gets up, and Willow follows. She turns to Tara.

"You coming?"

"No, thanks, I just drank like half a pot of coffee, I'm good."

"Okay, baby." Willow leans over and gives Tara a peck.

Several minutes later, Tara is still looking at her screen, drinking yet another cup of coffee.

"Jeez, this guy's harder to find than Bin Laden." Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. "Coming." Tara gets up and saunters toward the door. "Someone forget something?" She opens the door. Warren stands on the front step, tapping his foot restlessly.

"Warren!"

"Who're you? And where the fuck is Buffy?"

"Uhm, uh, she left."

"Yeah? Well, maybe this doesn't have to be a wasted trip." He pulls out a gun. "You think you can deliver a message for me?" He shoves his way in, and pushes her down. "Call it a calling card." He shuts the door behind him, and moves towards her.

Buffy, Willow, and Xander sit at the sidewalk café, discussing the past year.

"Man," Xander says, "How'd we get here?"

"Scenic route. Long drive." Buffy replies.

"As long as it's not me driving." Willow laughs nervously, then stops. "I can't believe I went overboard like that."

"Could've been worse. Remember last year, when Glory did that thing to Tara?"

"Yeah."

"Well," Xander says, "we've all been assholes this year. Shit happened, and we took it out on each other."

They sit in silence for a minute, than Willow speaks. "I never wanna do this again."

More silence, then Xander breaks it. "And if any of us start sleeping with someone who's, I don't know, a little dodgy, we will tell each other, right?" Buffy nods weakly.

Meanwhile, Warren walks confidently into Willie's bar, to the sound of Sublime's 'Date Rape'. "Give me something stiff, barkeep! The stuff where you get your vision back in three days, guaranteed!"

"Tell you what," Willie says, "I'll give you what I give them." He nods towards a couple of demons. As Warren waits for his drink, three big demons come up behind him.

"Hey, Junior," the biggest one speaks, "Does your daddy know you're here?"

"I haven't seen that horny fucker in five years. Hey, maybe when I rule the world, I'll hire you to find him."

"Like we'd work for a pipsqueak like you." the one on the right says. Warren turns on his barstool, a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Pipsqueak, am I? Would a pipsqueak do what I just did?"

"And what's that?" the big one says.

"Well, last night, I got humiliated once again by the Slayer, so I bought a gun, and showed up at her place." His drink arrives, and he takes it gratefully. "Thank you." He takes a hit, grimaces, and continues, his voice slightly raspy now. "But she wasn't there, just one of her friends. Well, I couldn't just, you know, walk off and come back later, I'd look like an idiot. So, I decided to just leave her a little message. Boy, to see the look on her face when she walks in her front door."

The one on the right speaks again. "You mean you…?"

Warren nods. "I didn't kill her, no. I did something that's been welling up inside me for nineteen years. Call it a parting shot."

"Man, you are cold-blooded! You know she's gonna come after you."

"I know, that's why I'm leaving. I'm on the next bus to… well, I can't tell you, I've heard she likes to fuck you guys up."

"Which one was it?" the big one asks.

"Uh, Idunno, she was short, blonde, nice tits."

"Oh, man, you are so dead!" he laughs.

"Yeah, I know!" Warren laughs maniacally with him.

"No, I mean, the Slayer is the least of your worries! That chick's girlfriend is gonna tear you a new asshole, and shove a hot poker up it!"

"Girlfriend?"

"Yeah, witch, and I understand she's a little on the crazy side."

"Crazy?"

"Like once attacked a god crazy."

"Ah, shit." Warren hangs his head, not looking forward to what's coming.

"Ah, man," the one on the left says. "I liked you, too."

"Tell you what," the big one speaks, handing Warren a card, "This guy's name is Rack, he might be able to help you."

At that time, Buffy, Xander, and Willow are returning home. Xander is the first in the door, and the first to see.

"Oh, my god!" Tara is lying on the floor, brutally beaten, clothes ripped, barely breathing. Willow rushes to her side.

"Baby?"

"It was Warren," Tara says, weakly.

Xander looks like he wants punch something. "God, I knew we shouldn't have left you here alone!"

"What did he do to you?" Willow's voice quavers.

"Xander, call 911!" Buffy says, taking charge. Xander bolts for the phone. Willow starts sobbing.

Some time later, Tara is being rushed to the emergency room on a gurney, with an oxygen mask over her face. Sometime later, she's in bed, comatose, with a bunch of tubes connected to her, as Buffy and Xander stand nearby, and Willow kneels by her side, holding her hand, and sobbing into it. A doctor comes in, and Willow stands up.

"Is she gonna be okay?"

"Her chances are good, yes. There's something else I need to talk about, though."

Buffy, looking a little confused, says, "Wh-what is it?"

The doctor takes a deep breath, and lets it out tensely "Well, this is the kind of news nobody likes to deliver. Her assailant didn't simply batter her. There was some abrasion to, um, a certain part of her, as well as some 'material'."

"Material?" Xander asked.

"Genetic material."

Buffy turns around, doing her best to hold it together. "Oh, my god, Willow. I-I'm so sorry." Willow just turns to Tara, silently, not showing any reaction to the news. "Willow?" As she stands there, her eyes begin to glow a fiery red.

Warren sits in Rack's waiting room, restlessly. Rack comes out.

"War–"

"HERE!" Warren gets up.

"Come into my office."

A minute later, Warren sits in Rack's office, across from him.

"So, you…violated one of the Slayer's friends."

"Hey, how'd you…Oh, right wizard."

"Stupid, but ballsy."

"Um, thanks?"

"And I can tell from reading your mind that you have a lot of imagination, not to mention a staggering intellect. This is good. Ordinarily, I wouldn't be able to train someone with this little notice, but you seem to me like someone who could get the full benefit from fluid magic."

"What's fluid magic?"

"Very basic spells with virtually limitless applications. Also, because you have good potential, I'm gonna teach you one I've been working on. Call it a blue light special."

Back at the Summers residence, Dawn is coming home from school.

"Buffy?" She looks around, apprehensively. "Anyone?" She comes upon the answering machine, and notices there's a message. A shrill beep sounds when she presses the button.

"Dawn? Listen, uh, we're at the hospital. Tara's been attacked, and she's in intensive care. Lock the door, and don't answer it unless it's one of us."

BEEP! Just then, the doorbell rings, and Dawn jumps straight up.

Minutes later, Buffy and Xander are arming themselves. Dawn is badgering her big sister.

"What do you mean, 'attacked'?"

"Look, I-I can't tell you right now, it's…, you're not old enough, okay?"

"What, grown up shit? Fuck you! I'm older than you were when you started slaying!"

"Yeah, and I wasn't old enough, either."

Willow enters the room.

"Uh, Wil," Xander says, "Uhm…"

Buffy steps in. "Can you look after–"

"I'm going with you." Willow speaks up.

Xander speaks. "I don't think that's a good–"

"Don't worry, I can arm myself. I can control it."

"Um, okay. You go do that, then." Willow goes to get a weapon.

Buffy speaks up. "Xander, what the hell?"

"Look, if she comes with us, we can keep an eye on her, and she can do something with her anger. Give her a sword, let her channel it through that. If she stays here, she'll just stew." He then calls to Willow. "Just try not to think of magic, okay? Think sword."

Buffy looks anxious. "I don't know, Xander."

"This is a delicate situation, no matter what we do. You want her with us, where we can monitor her, or alone with Dawn?"

Buffy hesitates. "Okay." She sighs. "I hope we're making the right decision."

"I hope he's easy to subdue. And I hope we can keep her from killing him."

"Dawn, I'm gonna call Spike's friend Clem. He can look after you."

"What's wrong with Spike?" Dawn asks.

"Never mind."

Meanwhile, Jonathan and Andrew sit in their prison cell.

"God," Andrew says, "How'd I end up here? My mom is gonna be so pissed."

"I, uh, think your mom is the least of our problems."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, you know, we're in prison, you know, with prisoners."

"So?"

"Well, you know what prisoners do to each other?"

"No, what?"

"You don't know?"

"No!"

"Well…" Jonathan looks around, then scoots over and whispers into Andrew's ear. Andrew glances back, with an incredulous look on his face.

"I never heard that!"

"You never heard that?"

"No!"

"How could you have never heard that? It's what prison is famous for!"

"What are you worried about? You'll probably get off, Ephialtes."

"Don't be so sure. I aided and abetted in concealing a murder."

"It was under duress. Warren threatened you."

"Well, with my size, maybe I can convince them I could actually be threatened by someone like Warren. I mean, he's a psycho, but he's no Marv."

"C'mon, he's not that bad."

"Not that bad? Towards the end I was afraid he was gonna snap and stab me in the throat with a shiv he made out of an old Darth Vader cereal spoon."

"I'm sure he's working on a way to spring us as we speak."

"Dude, you sound like a Bush voter."

Some time later, the Scoobies are driving to Willie's. Buffy and Xander, who's driving, are arguing heatedly. Willow sits quietly in the back.

"No!" Xander snaps, "There's no fucking way I'm going to her!"

"Look, if anyone can help us with this," Buffy suddenly starts whispering, "and with Willow," then goes back to talking normally, "it's Anya."

"What makes you think she'll even help us?"

"Well, it's slim, but it's a chance."

Later, they arrive at Willie's Bar. As soon as she walks in, everything goes silent.

One demon gets up. "Ah, no. Look, let's just save some time. Who are you looking for?"

"Where's Warren?"

"Oh, thank god. I don't know who that is."

"Willie, does anyone here know–"

"Right there," he points out the big demon and his two friends, standing at the end of the bar. Buffy walks over to them.

"Where–"

"I sent him to Rack's. Thought it'd be more fun if he had at least a slim chance of not dying." He laughs. Suddenly Willow steps forward quickly, grabs him by(presumably) his nutsack, and squeezes. The demon lets out a high pitched shriek.

"You think this is funny, you fuck? Do you know what he did?"

"Dude!" one of his friends exclaims.

"Willow, stop!" Buffy pries Willows hand from the demon's ballbag, and restrains her. "Sit down, dammit!"

The demon backs away, in pain, his voice squeaking. "I'm sorry, man. Not cool of me." Willow sits down.

"Well," Buffy says, "at least she's not using magic."

"Yeah," Xander replies, "So, Anya, huh?"

Buffy is in The Magic Box, pleading to Anya, while Xander and Willow wait outside.

"No. Fuck him."

"Look, it's not for him. You know, under the circumstances, you're the last person I wanted to go to. But you're the only person we think can help us."

Anya sighs. "You have one minute."

"Tara's been raped."

A look of shock creeps into Anya's face. "Oh. Uh, how's Willow taking it?"

"Not well. She squeezed a demon's, uh…you know. Anyway, she hasn't shown any signs of relapsing, but somehow that scares me more than if she had."

"Alright, I'll go with you. But only because I still kinda like Willow."

Warren is stepping out of Rack's place.

"So, what should I do?"

"What do you think?"

"Well, my sphincter is telling me run, but my brain tells me it might be better to find her before she finds me."

"Whatever. Good luck." Rack slinks back into his place. Warren looks around, then heads off.

A few minutes later, he returns to the bar.

"Hey, guys, just came from Rack's place. I don't suppose the Slayer's come looking for me, has she?" Willie nods to the three demons, now in a booth. The big one has an ice pack on his groin. Warren walks over to them.

"Ooh, did the Slayer do that? Geez, let's all go to the mountains, huh?"

"The Slayer didn't do this to me. Her friend, the witch did it."

"Wha? You mean she has a ball crushing spell?"

"No, she did it with her own hand."

"Wait a minute. She didn't use any magic?"

"No, she didn't."

"Huh, interesting. Could it be that Witchy-Poo has lost her mojo, so now she resorts to brute force?"

"She was pretty pissed."

"Who wouldn't be? Well, all of a sudden, I'm feeling a lot better about this fight."

Buffy is driving from the Magic Box to Rack's, with Anya on shotgun, and Willow and Xander in back.

"So, do you know who did this?"

"Warren."

"Isn't he the creep who was spying on us?"

"Yeah. I thwarted one of his plans last night, and he came looking for me this morning. Tara was the only one there, and, well…"

Anya hesitates before she speaks. "If I may, after eleven hundred years, I've learned how to read people, even if I don't understand you, and, from here, it sounds a little like you blame yourself."

Buffy sighs. "When I beat Warren last night, I had a lot of anger inside me. I could've just subdued him, instead I humiliated him. My rage made me careless, and I let him get away."

"What made you so angry?"

"Never mind."

The Scoobies arrive at Rack's. Willow strides in quickly, with Anya trying to keep up, followed by the others.

"Where is he?" Willow asks on entering.

"Relax, Willow," Anya says, "I'm sure whoever saw him will tell you if you ask nicely." Rack comes out.

"Who–Oh, it's you. Some gu–" Rack is cut off by Willow's hand around his throat.

"Where is he?"

Rack struggles to speak, "He went looking for you."

"What? Why?"

"He thought it would be better if he found you first."

"Willow, stop it!"

Rack looks down, and sees Willow's eyes starting to burn red. Anya tries to pull her off him, but Willow throws her against the wall. "You read my mind once, so I know you can read his. Where is he?"

"H-he's at the mall!"

"Good boy." She drops him, and he collapses on the floor. She then strolls out. Anya gets up.

"Guys, something's wrong."

"Yeah," says Xander, "No shit."

"No, I mean when she tossed me aside. She is way stronger than usual."

"Well," Buffy says, "she's not using magic. I have no idea what's going on."

Rack points at them spitefully. "It doesn't matter. None of you stand a chance. With what I've taught him, you're just walking into your own slaughter."

"Thanks for the heads up." Buffy kicks him in the head.

Warren walks up to the mall entrance. He turns his hand, and the door unlocks. As he walks through the mall, every security camera blows up as he points at it. He makes his way to the toy store, once again turns his hand, and then lifts the grating. Inside, he finds a toy light saber. He poses dramatically with it.

"Escape is not my plan. I will face you, alone."

Dawn and Clem are watching TV.

"So, what's wrong with Spike?" Dawn asks.

"Huh?"

"I asked Buffy why Spike couldn't look after me, and she just said never mind and changed the subject."

"Well, uh, that's kind of, uh, hmm…"

"What?"

"Look, your sister and Spike …it's complicated."

"Go on."

The gang is approaching the mall's entrance, three of them with swords, and Anya with a crossbow. They silently creep through the dark mall, keeping an eye out for Warren.

"Keep all your senses peeled," Buffy says, "he could be anywhere."

They pass the mall fountain, and Anya notices what appear to be a pair of invisible feet standing in the water. "Guys!" As the others turn their heads, she aims her crossbow, and fires at the invisible figure. Instead of the expected sound of punctured flesh, the arrow hits what sounds like plaster, which falls over with a loud splash. Xander goes over to investigate.

"A mannequin. He made an invisible decoy."

"Ooohkaaay," Buffy says, "This is gonna be harder than I thought."

"He's just delaying the inevitable," Willow says. She then yells, "Warren! Come out here and face us!"

"Oh, fine," Warren says, becoming visible, "this is like nickel-and-diming a cyberdemon when you're in god mode."

"Warren," Buffy says, "you're coming with us, one way or another."

"Oh, here we go. The 'I'm turning you in' speech. Now, which one of you is the lesbian witch?" He points to Anya. "Can't be you, I watched you fuck a semi-dead guy. I guess that leaves you, Red. Tell me, does the carpet match the drapes?" he laughs, "You know, I don't think your girlfriend is all the way gay. At least that was the impression I got when I was–" He's cut off by a fireball hitting him in the chest, knocking him down. Everybody looks at Willow, whose arm is raised toward him.

"Willow?" Xander says. Willow is so angry, she's shaking. Her eyes are burning red.

"Willow," Buffy says, rendered insensate, "Did you just–"

Before she can finish her sentence, Warren gets up, apparently unharmed. "I knew the 'she loved it' shtick would work." He starts to form a fireball in his hand. "Any of you ever played dodgeball?"

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Previously, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer…

"He's probably halfway to Los Angeles by now."

"You think you can deliver a message for me?"

"I did something that's been welling up inside me for nineteen years."

"Baby?"

"Call 911!"

"Her assailant didn't simply batter her."

"I'm going with you."

"You think this is funny, you fuck?"

"My brain tells me it might be better to find her before she finds me."

"Where is he?"

"Now, which one of you is the lesbian witch?"

"Willow?"

"Any of you ever played dodgeball?"

And now, Part Two.

Rupert Giles sits before the High Priestess of a powerful coven, in England.

"It happened this morning," Giles recounts to the priestess, "I just had this sudden feeling of untenable rage, coming from a familiar place, and I got this awful feeling that something seriously grave has happened to someone I know."

"Yes, I know what you speak of. We detected it, too. You're gonna need some help."

In the mall, Warren is holding a fireball. "Might wanna back off, people. At the very least, this thing will make you bald."

"Bring it on, motherfucker." Willow steps in front of the others.

"Willow," Xander whispers, "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Fucking hit me!" Willow yells loud enough to echo all over the place. Hesitantly, Warren throws the fireball at her, and it hits her right in the chest, hurling her several yards, into a wall.

"Willow!" Xander yells, appalled by what he's just seen. Buffy runs up to confront Warren, sword ready.

"You think you can just do that to my friends? You think I'd let you get away with it? Think again!"

"Oh, woe woh!" Warren says, mocking her. He then pulls out the toy light saber, and a real blade of light comes out of it. "Wanna play, bitch? We'll play."

"Uh, Buffy?" Anya says, behind her, "That looks like it'll hurt. Want me to step in?"

"What?" Buffy says, flustered.

"I'll take that as a yes." Anya steps forward, and hits him with a lightning bolt, which knocks him down, and shocks him for a moment. Xander, seeing this, is stunned.

"Anya?" After a few seconds, Warren gets up.

"Ooh, gonna have some fun with this one!" Electricity crackles between his fingers. "Hah!" He then hits the tip of Buffy's sword, causing a large spark, and throwing her several feet.

"Okay," Anya says, "I'll stop helping you." Xander is again surprised when Willow gets back up, and immediately goes for Warren.

Warren immediately starts imitating Emperor Palpatine. "I can feel your anger. Strike me down with all of your hatred."

"Willow, no!" Anya says, suddenly understanding what's happening. Willow telekinetically smashes a window, and then throws the shards at Warren. A couple hit Warren, but he shakes them off. Using the same magic, he picks up some big ones.

"Hey, Curly Joe!" he calls to Xander, "Think fast!" then he launches them at him, embedding them in his arms and legs. Xander collapses, screaming in pain.

Willow, unconcerned, and eyes now completely black, and her hair starting to darken, cocks her head, pondering the situation. "Hmm. New strategy." She then forms a huge green ball in her hands, and unleashes a magical attack so big, every window around them shatters. In the aftermath, Warren is lying on the floor, apparently motionless. Willow steps up to him, to see if he's dead. As she leans in, Warren sucker-punches her, then gets up. "Hey, thanks! That's gonna come in handy, big time! You know what? This is so fun, I'm gonna go and let you regroup." He then dematerializes.

Buffy comes to, her hands shaking and a little blackened. "Anya, what happened? Where'd he go?"

"Uh," Anya says, a little shell-shocked, "I think that sad, pathetic geek is toying with us. Uh, he just teleported out of here."

"Okay. What was with you zapping him?"

"Huh? Oh, D'Hoffryn reinstated me. Tend to Xander, he looks hurt."

Buffy runs over to Xander, and pulls out some of the shards. Xander again screams painfully. "Oh, god, we're gonna lose! We're gonna fucking lose!"

"C'mon, you big baby," Buffy says pulling another one out, "You didn't cry like this when he beat you up."

"That's cause I knew you could take him." Xander gets up. "Where's Willow?"

"Uh," Anya says, "she left."

Meanwhile, Dawn is trying to grasp what Clem has just told her.

"Okay, let me see if I've got this. Buffy has been sleeping with Spike."

"Yes."

"And something happened that caused it to go sour."

"As I understand it. I mean, neither of them have said anything, but based on his demeanor last night, and her unwillingness to say anything about it, it must have been something big."

"Where's Spike? Maybe he'll talk to me."

"Uh, he left."

"What? Where?"

"Not entirely sure. He left in quite a state, but I think he said something about Africa."

"Africa?"

"Yes."

Dawn sighs crossly. "I'm gonna find Buffy, and I'm gonna make her tell me what the fuck is going on."

"She said I'm supposed to look after you."

"Well, then I guess you're coming with me."

Giles enters the hospital, and walks up to the front desk.

"I'm here to see Tara Maclay."

"Visiting hours are over, sir."

"This is really quite urgent."

"Well, you can see her tomorrow."

"Um, okay." Giles walks out.

A few minutes later, he's standing outside the trauma ward, counting windows. "Okay, so she'd be…third from the left." He pulls out a grappling hook. "I'm getting too old for this shit."

Some more minutes later, he climbs in the window, which he's just jimmied open. He catches his breath, then approaches Tara, and reaches over and turns on the light. After cracking his knuckles, he carefully lays his hands on her stomach. A white light glows under his hands. Most of Tara's injuries heal, and she suddenly comes to, and immediately gasps for air, then coughs.

"Wh-what's going on? Mister Giles?"

"Uh, yeah. Willow needs our help."

Willow walks hastily down the street. In her focused state, she fails to notice she's gone down a bad street. A young punk approaches from behind.

"Hey, Red, looks like you've taken a wrong turn. Maybe I can help you find your way. For a price, of course." He chuckles. Willow turns around. The grin leaves his face as he sees her pitch black eyes. "Uh, never mind." He turns and bolts, and she turns back around and continues.

Some minutes later, she approaches the jail. Jonathan and Andrew are sitting in their cell.

"Dude, he's not gonna spring us, okay?"

To punctuate this, the bricks around the window abruptly shift.

"You were saying?"

Jonathan goes to the window, and looks out.

"I don't think that's him."

"Well, who else could it be?"

The bricks then completely dislodge from the wall, and crash down onto the parking lot.

"It looks like that Willow chick."

Anya and Xander are driving around, looking for Willow.

"God, why the hell did I decide to bring her along? I knew this was a bad idea!"

"Well, it's not the first stupid thing you've done recently. Like when you…"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it!"

"Why did you just leave me there, Xander?"

"C'mon, not now. This isn't the time."

"I wanna know."

Xander sighs. "All we have in common is sex. Obviously, we can both do it till we're raw, but apart from that, we're nothing alike. I don't believe in material possessions, you're a stone-cold capitalist. I have a passive approach to life, you're a control freak. I'm tactful, you're blunt. If we did get married, neither one of us would be happy. I didn't want that for me, and I sure as hell didn't want it for you."

Anya is silent for a second. "You know, I almost did the vengeance thing on you."

"Huh?"

"After you left me, and I became a demon again, I tried to find someone to wish vengeance on you. Then, after that little incident where you saw me fornicating with Spike, he asked me if I could help him get revenge on you. But I couldn't do it."

"Well, looks like humanity's rubbing off on you."

"Yeah. Kind of sickening." Xander, in spite of the depressing situation, laughs. Anya starts laughing, too, then stops abruptly. "XANDER!" Xander slams on the brakes, suddenly seeing Dawn and Clem running in front of the car. He sticks his head out the window.

"Dawn, what the hell are you doing here? Get in the fucking car!" Dawn and Clem get in the back seat. Anya turns toward them.

"What are you doing here?"

"We're looking for Buffy. Something's going on, and she's stonewalling me. And apparently Clem got the same business from Spike, cause he also wants to know what the hell's going on."

"Okay, um, Xander, you wanna field this?"

Xander sighs. "What do you know?"

Clem speaks, "I told her that her and Spike, uh, got together."

"Uh, right. Well, apparently Spike took it hard when Buffy wouldn't see him anymore, and, uh, the other day, he tried to, uh…" Anya cuts in.

"He tried to rape your sister."

Dawns face goes white. "What?"

Xander speaks again. "That's what I said. He has no soul, but it was an act of passion. I'm as confused as you."

"Okay…so, what happened to Tara."

"Uhm, uh…" Xander stammers. Anya once again cuts in.

"That Warren guy did the same thing Spike tried to do, but with more success."

Dawn's face now turns red. "WHAT?"

Xander cuts back in, "We all went after him, and confronted him in the mall, but he handed us our asses, and in the confusion, Willow disappeared. We're looking for her, and Warren at the same time. Buffy's looking elsewhere."

"Hey," Anya says, "I just thought of something."

Buffy is walking through the club district, looking for signs of Willow. She crosses the street, and a car pulls up a few feet from her, and the driver beeps his horn.

"Alright, calm down, asshole, I'm crossing!" The driver gets out.

"Buffy!"

"Giles? What are you doing here?"

"Well, it's a long story, but I need you to get in." Buffy goes around to the passenger side. "Oh, before you find out yourself, Tara's in the back seat."

"What?"

"I'll explain on the way."

Willow walks away from the prison, with Jonathan and Andrew trailing behind her.

"So," Andrew says, nervously, "what do you want with us?"

"I need you to help me defeat Warren."

"Well," Jonathan says, "whatever new trick he has up his sleeve, we don't know about it. We haven't heard from him since last night."

"Why are you going after him?" Andrew asks.

"He did grievous harm to my Tara."

"What's 'grievous harm'?" Jonathan inquires.

"He…violated her."

"Why am I not surprised?" Jonathan says under his breath.

"Well," Andrew says, "can you describe how he was fighting you guys? You know, out of curiosity."

"Every time I use a spell on him, he learns it and uses it against me."

"Hm. You ever played Final Fantasy?"

Jonathan glares at him. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, what he's doing sounds like the blue mages. They also learned spells kinda like that. I have an idea, but you'll need something special from my house."

"Are you actually helping us fight your hero Warren?"

"He's not my hero anymore."

"So, he kills a woman, you've still got his back, but he rapes one, and you turn against him."

"Killing Katrina was an accident, though now that I look back, he definitely changed after that. I just wish I'd seen it before, maybe this could've been prevented." He then changes the subject. "Dude, we should stop at your place and get the van."

Warren materializes outside of the Magic Box.

"Okay, off by a little bit." He disappears again, and then reappears inside. "Let there be light." The lights come on. "Now where are those spell books?" He locates them, and pulls a bunch out. "And now, by osmosis, I will become all powerful." He laughs. "Science is awesome!" He sucks up the magic, and the print actually seems to appear on him.

Giles drives, with Buffy, locating Willow. Tara is asleep in the back seat, still recovering, mentally. "I heard all about what happened from some friends of mine, in this white light coven. They gave me something to bring Willow back from the brink."

"So, why's Tara here?"

"She's the only one who can give it to her. Of course I had to heal her, too. So, who is this Warren guy, anyway?"

"He's the latest thorn in my side. At first, I thought he was just some geek, but it turns out he is dangerously unstable."

"Well, you're used to fighting supernatural enemies with no soul, so I can't really blame you. But underestimating any enemy is a bad idea. I mean, some might say you don't exactly look like a powerful adversary, but vampires, demons, and even gods can attest to the contrary."

Both are silent for a moment. "We've missed you, Giles."

"I know."

The Triomobile pulls up in front of Andrew's house. Andrew, Jonathan, and Willow go inside.

"We need to be quiet, my mom's sleeping. Stay here." Andrew goes up to his room, then comes back with a pendant.

"This will block all his magic. I found it on eBay, but there's not really much use for this kind of thing when you're fighting a slayer." He then pulls out a scroll. "And this is a little spell I've been working on, kind of similar to his, except you don't need him to cast anything on you, and it also drains his magic power, as well as deleting the spells from his memory. Again, not much use when you're fighting a slayer, but I thought it would tip the scales if we ever fought a magic user." Willow takes the scroll.

"Good." She rolls it up, and puts it in her pocket. "Let's go."

Xander et al arrive at the prison. Xander and Anya get out, and see the destruction, and the ensuing confusion.

"Well," Xander says, "looks like you were right. She's been here." He walks up to a cop. "Excuse, can you tell me what's going on here?"

"It's none of your business, buddy."

"Actually, it is. We have reason to believe a friend of ours was involved in this."

"Well, your friend blew out a wall and sprang these two guys we nabbed last night trying to rob an armored car."

"Okay. Thanks." He goes back to where Anya is waiting. "Well, you were right, sort of."

"Did she kill them?"

"No, she busted them out."

Anya looks perplexed. "That's odd."

"I know. Why would she spring them?"

Clem, who's gotten out, along with Dawn, interjects, "Maybe she wants them to help her fight this guy?"

Xander and Anya stand there for a minute, deep in thought. "Well, that makes about as much sense as anything today." Dawn stares out at the parking lot. She suddenly starts to gape.

"Giles?" The others look in the same direction, then they run up to meet him. Buffy gets out.

"Dawn, what the hell are you–" Dawn punches her in the arm. "Ow!"

"Why didn't you tell me?!?"

"Tell you what?" Giles asks.

"She was sleeping with Spike." Anya says.

"I'd laugh if I wasn't so mortified."

"You and me both." Xander says, "What's Tara doing here?"

"I need her to help Willow, so I healed her wounds and brought her with me."

"Okay. Just curious."

Buffy rubs her arm. "I was trying to protect you."

"Well, you're not helping me by doing that! How am I supposed to take care of myself when you're not around if you won't tell me these things?"

Suddenly, Warren appears floating above them. "Oh, jeez, did I just wander into an episode of 'Dawson's Creek', or what?"

"Who the bloody hell are you?" Giles exclaims.

Buffy answers, "That's the guy I was telling you about."

"Oh, of course."

Warren does the blah-blah motion. "Yeah, okay, can we get on with this?" He throws a huge lightning bolt at Xander's car, and it blows up. The cops respond to this by running up and pointing all their guns at Warren.

"FREEZE!" One of them yells.

"Good idea!" He hits them with a blast of icy wind, and freezes them solid.

Xander speaks to himself. "Where did he learn that?"

"I broke into your store and looted some spell books." Warren says, hearing this. "I'm pretty much invulnerable now!"

Dawn runs over and picks up an axe that was blown from Xander's car. "Eat axe, fucker!" She hurls it, with great accuracy, at Warren. Buffy's amazed.

"Dawn?"

Warren catches the axe. "Hey, nice throw!" He throws it back at her. Buffy leaps and pushes her out of the way, and it misses them both. "Well, I gotta go find my so called friends. Seeya!" He vanishes. Buffy and Dawn get up.

"How did you do that?"

"I watched you."

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Spike. I guess I didn't realize you're not a little girl anymore."

"Well, technically, I was never a little girl." Buffy laughs, in spite of the situation. She then starts to cry, and she hugs Dawn. "Mom would be so proud."

"Where'd he go this time?" Xander ponders.

"Well," Giles responds, "he's going after his friends, and unless I miss my guess, Willow already has them. The coven is helping me trace her, that's how I knew to come here. We find her, we find him."

Meanwhile, Warren is floating over the town, scanning for Jonathan and Andrew. He looks toward the bluffs. "Gotcha!" He flies toward them.

Jonathan and Andrew are standing at the edge of a cliff.

"Here he comes." Jonathan says.

Warren floats toward them, affecting a Magneto like pose.

"Boys, boys, boys." he says, "How'd you get out of your cage?"

"Oh," Andrew says, nervously, "a little skill and a lot of luck. We got bored waiting for you, so we freed ourselves."

"Well, that's good. It'll make it easier to kill you."

"What? But…"

"You didn't really think I gave a shit about you two, did you? All you are to me now is a loose end, which I have to tie up."

He rears back, and prepares to blast them with lethal magic, when he's hit from behind by a powerful bolt, knocking him out of the air. He gets up, smoke rising from him. Andrew and Jonathan run away, as Willow approaches him. Her eyes are burning red, and her hair is pitch black.

"What the fu–Oh, it's you! Well, thanks, but I already know as much as I can."

"You are dead, you sick fuck!"

"Yeah, yeah, we've been through this. What makes you think you'll have more luck now?" He throws a fireball at her, but it dies out before it reaches her.

"Mainly, this." She casts Andrew's spell on Warren, and begins draining his magic, and taking his spells. After about a minute she stops, and he collapses on the ground, exhausted.

Willow walks over, picks him up, and throws him into a tree. She then walks to him again, and pushes him up against it. She punches him repeatedly, beating him to a bloody pulp. After a while of this, she tosses him back toward the cliff's edge. She picks him again, and holds him over the edge. "You are less then nothing. Buffy should've done this a long time ago."

"Willow, no!" She turns around, and drops him next to her.

"Tara?"

"What are you doing?"

"I have to! I can't let him get away with what he did to you! He has to pay!"

"He will, but not like this. My Willow wouldn't do that. That's not the woman I fell in love with. If you do this, I lose you." She walks toward Willow. The others arrive on the scene.

"What is she doing?" Xander says, "Is she crazy?"

Giles answers, "No, there's a reason I gave it to her."

Tara approaches Willow. "I love you."

"Don't do this!"

"I love you."

Willow tears up, "Please!"

"I love you." Tara steps up to Willow, and kisses her. Her hair goes back to red. Willow then starts crying.

"I'm sorry." she says, softly. Tara embraces her, and Willow starts full on bawling. They kneel slowly onto the ground. As this is happening, Warren gets up, and runs off into the woods. Xander takes off after him.

"No! No! Don't even think about it!" Xander runs Warren down and tackles him. "You're going away for a long time, buddy!" Some of the cops who Warren froze arrive. "I got him. He's harmless now. Well, mostly harmless." The cops cuff Warren and carry him off to their car.

Tara holds Willow close, comforting her. "I love you."

"I love you."

Epilogue: Sometime in season seven.

Warren stands in court, stone faced, as the judge speaks.

"Based on your total lack of remorse for your crimes, I am sentencing you to no fewer than fifteen years in prison." She slams down her gavel.

Some time later, Warren enters prison. Many of the prisoners are hooting and hollering at him.

Later on, he sits in the mess hall, eating his lunch. A big inmate sits down next to him.

"Hey, new fish, gimme your soup!"

"Sure, here you go." Warren throws his soup in the inmate's face, who screams in pain, then he pulls out a shiv made out of a toothbrush, and shanks him repeatedly. Warren then yells so all the other inmates can hear him. "Anyone else wanna try making me their bitch?" The others just go back to their meal.


End file.
